more bags
i had a craft spurt lately where i made a bunch of drawstring bags (aka shoe bags). some were reversible & some were unlined letting me use my new serger. i timed myself to see how many i can make an hour. let's just say i'm not sweatshop material.
this lovely cotton/linen leave fabric is from leslie (of course). the polka dot fabric from a local quilt store.
the terry ladybug fabric came from superbuzzy. the dots from leslie. i was going to give these away as a gift, but as luck would have it i made a mistake. terry is just as difficult to sew as double gauze, i made the exact same error on both bags.
this alexander henry fabric came from reprodepot.
quilted armrests
sdf requested armrests for his ikea chair. he selected one of my favorite corduroy prints from leslie.
a cross stitch squirrel & deer (from a stitch idées) were added the bottom of each rest. they're going to protect sdf from his arch enemies.
my hand quilting leaves a lot to be desired. luckily it's hard to see this on the corduroy.
tote bags
my first tote was made with plain jane muslin so i embroidered a few circles to jazz it up.
my second tote was a bit loosy goosy, especially the inner pockets. after two practice bags the next one should be kick ass. fingers are crossed.
quilts
i was inspired to make a quilt for myself after purchasing this book from leslie (photos from goodness). i do so love hands-on instruction, of course i had to take a few lessons to learn the basics in quilt-making.
my first class was with rebecca where i made (but did not complete) this little pot holder. rebecca then helped me decide what quilt from my book to start with. for simplicity's sake i choose the quilt from the cover of the book (see above), but decided on a rectangle shape instead of a square one. we were going to meet again, so i was to start the quilt & together we would attack the next step - adding the batting, back & binding.
** i have to say that the best little tip i received in this lesson was to place double stick tape on the bottom of my quilting ruler to keep it in place.
my next class was about hexagons. i really wanted to make this quilt (see leslie's photo above), but i felt i should start slow & actually finish a piece this year.
i learned two different ways of creating hexagons in my class, & believe it or not there's a third way in the book. i think that might be my favorite.
i'm going to admit that the only reason i've managed to make it this far with my quilt is because i was to meet up with rebecca again. it's been a busy winter & i would have put it off for a bit.
the fabric for the colored squares came from a local quilt store (although i was tempted to use some of my precious japanese fabric). the white fabric is some awesome shirting fabric i purchased at michael levine's last summer. luckily i bought three yards because i intended to make a skirt with it & i think there's just enough left over. i ended up using a really thin, soft corduroy fabric for the back. i know it's not traditional but it feels awesome.
i am going to be hand quilting so i basted the quilt together (obviously we haven't made it to the binding yet). i was so anal retentive when piecing the quilt together. i know i'd be heartbroken with sloppy machine stitches. i thought it would be nice to quilt various sized circles since the majority of fabric is striped. i just bought two quilting hoops yesterday to get me started.
christmas all year round
i recently got a bee in my bonnet that i was going to make embroidered christmas stockings for both sdf & myself this year. that plan has since changed after i saw the needlepoint stockings my teacher (victoria) made for her children. i fell in love with how substantial they were. i then knew it was meant to be when i found two canvases i loved during a sale.
i have made pretty good progress on the first stocking. i've been working like a mad woman on it. both stockings are by evelyn bernstein (circa 1997). they are not the traditional christmas stockings, but i loved the simple winter theme. of course the cute dogs & horses helped seal the deal.
victoria deserves all the credit for choosing the wonderful stitches. i'm in love with the sky & mountains - the big puffy tree was an experiment & now is gone. so although needlepoint isn't really my cup of tea i really enjoy the classes at the local needlepoint store. the instructor is fabulous & the women are great to be around. everyone is so positive & friendly.
of course a bag was needed (with pockets for fibers) to store the canvas. i used one of my favorite plaid fabrics, as well as vintage mother of pearl buttons tied off with velvet ribbon.
I am still going to make embroidered stockings but i doubt they'll be finished by next christmas. i'm definitely not going to sweat it.
sdf's stocking is going to be based on 'a christmas carol' with all the ghosts. i found this amazing copy of the book on ebay. the type is to die for.
my stocking will be based on the nutcracker using vsevolozhsky's illustrations for the first production of the ballet.
darth vader's tie fighter
sdf was a huge fan of star wars when he was a kid so it was a no brainer when we decided to print up t-shirts with freezer paper.
we actually used therm/o/web's iron on vinyl from joann fabrics. there seemed to be a scarcity of freezer paper in our area. luckily the iron on vinyl uses the same technique as freezer paper. it may even be a better choice. the vinyl really sticks to the fabric allowing you to have crisp edges (a definite bonus).
we added a bit of applique to the t-shirt (a la sally). now it's a hawaiian tie fighter.
new projects
in the past three months i have taken up embroidery, needlepoint & cross stitch. it all started when i broke out jenny hart's stitch-it-kit (purchased three years ago) this past fall on our recent trip back east. after completing my first project (this little bird - which is much cuter in person) i knew i was hooked on embroidery.
luckily for me & my pocketbook i found these great books at a fundraising sale in connecticut. it was then that i decided that i should make a sampler using every stitch in the encyclopedia of stitches.
my sampler is almost finished because it's all i worked on after christmas. i skipped a bunch of chain stitches in the beginning, but i'll go back in a bit to finish it up. it will be nice to have an example of stitches (even if they look like i was drunk while making them) to reference when working on future projects.
even with the sampler i would love to take a class about embroidery. there must be so much to learn about technique. i thought i finally found a class at a super cute local needlework store. boy was i mistaken. i soon learned that needlepoint is not embroidery. but it didn't stop me from taking the class, & i started working on this guy (from petei) because he reminded me of minipops.
as i finish up my little indian (there is a large background) i realize that i'm really not a needlepoint girl. i seem to prefer the before to the after. the jury's still out on cross stitch, but so far so good. i love all the colors the ice cream sign piece uses.
